Can You Keep a Secret?

After a caraffe of coffee and two cups of tea, I don't think I'm excreting urine, but some unsanitary caffeinated beverage. I am strangely sleepy, but dare not add more for fear of throwing my body's PH off. I keep hearing Charlton Heston's voice "out of my cold, dead hands", but I picture myself with a coffee mug and not a gun.

Mr. T Kicks My Butt

Too tired to write anything of my own brain's making. Dig this Mr. T. motivational video. Site discovered via Leah Peah.

Need a Muse

If this second cup of coffee doesn't get the words flowing, I am going to resort to eating instant coffee crystals. I thought I should leave this note in case it goes awry to help the toxicologist doing my autopsy.

Quotable (on Vices)

One of my friends/coworkers claimed Friday to not have any vices. I pointed out that he drinks (A LOT) and he still insisted that it wasn't a vice. Another coworker piped in that "drinking is not a vice, but a must and if I could drink at work, I would!"

Who needs to drink on the job when you have awesome entertainment like that ;)?!

I Love To Write

... except when I have to.

1 cup of coffee
1 cup of Lady Grey
almost caffeinated.

Path to Rep Party: Getting Punched in the Face

Truth is stranger than fiction... Mike Tyson has joined the republican party and is even trying to help someone get elected. Deadspin via KC:

As for the t-shirt Tyson was wearing, its for Maryland Republican Senatorial candidate Michael Steele (Karl Rove's head hits desk with audible thud).

Flavor of the Town Just Not the Same

... since Dingle changed their name (via BBC):

In a well-known town by the sea in a remote and beautiful part of south-western Ireland, there's history, politics, and commerce for starters. Dingle, or, to give it its proper, official name these days, An Daingean, is in County Kerry... Last year, a new law meant Dingle's official name was changed to An Daingean... They argue that the internationally-known "Dingle brand", familiar to people in the US, the UK and beyond, is in danger of being lost.

Too Precious to Miss

Something I bet is missing from the Precious Moments church/museum:



I like how the caption on the church reads "Another dumbstruck busload tours the chapel".

A Month Without an Esthetician

I was a few weeks overdue when I finally made it into the beauty shop on the first of this month. I thought they were joking or that something was lost in translation when I was told that Rosie wouldn't be back until after Halloween. It has been eighteen full days and the growth is even worse than what originally drove me there. I have hair in pores I didn't even know grew hair. The thought of trying to erradicate it myself isn't even a real option as she's the only one who's made sense of my eyebrows and upper lip in this millenia. I miss my arches!



I'm trying to think on the bright side.

"Halloween is a good time of the year to have extra facial hair!"



"Who needs the Groucho Marx glasses?" My green frames are pretty thick and with a cigar, I could probably be admitted to my friend's Halloween party (costume fragment demanded for entrance or you get one at the door). They used to look like this:



All of this is devolving into bad self-imagery. I was looking at myself before getting in the shower and saw an emoticon staring back at me. It wasn't :-| or even :-), it looked more like :-O.

What Ten Years Really Means...

I am so tired or reading articles with heresay like "scientists say we are ten years away from" something really important to humanity. I read it so much that I think it means "we really have no clue, but sooner not later". How many times have we read that gene therapy is ten years away or that there is a cancer cure ten years away?

While I'm on a roll, I just wanted to let all of my friends and family know that I think I'll be married soon... in about ten years :P.

|-|

means tired

Ode to the Bookmark

So much matters
on that all important
bookmark. Leather, paper,
tattered from wear.

on a theme of William Carlos Williams

What I need more is coffee, then sleep, then lots of coffee. I need there to be a paypal system for sleep where friends and family can donate hours to me. Maybe my Mom could hold a telethon too.

Caffeine Is Evil

Fell off the no caffeine wagon temporarily at the Sea Shanty in Cayucos, CA.

Street Scene More Like Mean Streets

I was saddened but not surprised to read that three people were seriously injured at Street Scene (SS) (SD Union Tribune):

A rock-music fan seriously injured during a concert at this year's Street Scene in Mission Valley has “vastly improved” and is expected to survive, a police official said Wednesday. The man, whose name has not been released, was one of three people who suffered serious head and chest trauma when spectators rushed the stage during a performance by the band Tool on Saturday night.

I haven't been back since I was caught in a major traffic jam of people trying to get to the Jack Johnson stage. The year I went SS was held in the Gaslamp. We were boxed in by the trolley line that bisected the venue (one to file under "what were they thinking?!"). When the police tried to compress people to one side or other of the tracks on the road to Jack Johnson's area, hundreds of people were penned into a fenced patch of asphalt with no way out. We never even made it to Jack Johnson and took the trolley home. We had experienced a semi-traumatic event, but there was no mention of it in the coverage of the 'great Street Scene success'.

I love the idea of Street Scene, but I have too much to live for to die at a rock concert. With my luck it would be near a lame band stage I wasn't even trying to get to. My family and friends' grief would be mixed with stunned emotion as they pondered why I had died trying to see Yanni or Paris Hilton. (She is repackaging herself as a singer, no kidding). The Street Scene organizers have two duties. First, they need to work on crowd control and security. Second, the artists need to stay at a high caliber, so if people continue to be injured, they can say, "Ya, I lost a leg, but it was so worth it to see Tool, man!"

My Footprint

Considering my car gets 12 mpg in the city, I scored a very decent ecological footprint.

CATEGORY ACRES

FOOD 6.9

MOBILITY 1.7

SHELTER 3.2

GOODS/SERVICES 3.5

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 15


IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON.

WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON.


IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.4 PLANETS.

Thanks for the idea, Happy!

Meet My Baby, Smelly Head

The government of Malaysia has announced a new list of names you cannot give to your newborn:

Hokkien Chinese Ah Chwar (snake)
Khiow Khoo (hunchback)
Chow Tow (smelly head)
Sor Chai (insane)
Karrupusamy (black god)
Woti (sexual intercourse)

Gwyneth Paltrow, who has a baby named Apple, would have been out of luck in Malaysia. Is Jade a color? I thought it was a symbol of good luck, but could also be out. "Parents will not be able to call their babies after animals, insects, fruit, vegetables or colours."

Getting Serious Without Falling Overboard

Garrison Keillor has a great quote about marriage:

In general, the rules for marriage are similar to the rules for being in a lifeboat on the open ocean: don't crowd each other, no sudden moves, and keep all disastrous thoughts to yourself.

In searching for it, I found another great quote about the perfect woman:

The perfect woman is the woman who you love to converse with and who you want to tell everything to. The moment you have a big experience, you want her there to listen to your account of it. Her take on things fascinates you, her talk is pleasurable to you, and you love her company. That's what you want in a companion.

Is this true? Do men change at a specific age? The ones in my age range seem to be a lot more shallow. Maybe that's SoCal for you?

I Hate the Crawl (Too)!

Thank you Lewis Black for saying what the rest of us are thinking. Too much information! I hate the crazy banner and the crawling news feed.

Via Digg: Lewis Black demands CNN banner disappear.

Ring Me Cizzle Badizzle Fo Sho

Copying Vermiciousknitter's cool post, the following are some of my alter egos:

YOUR PORN STAR NAME
(your first pet, the name of the first street you lived on):
Gina Piedmont
This formula works!

YOUR MOVIE STAR NAME
(grandfather/grandmother on your father's side, your favorite kind of candy):
Mary Swedishfish

YOUR FLY GIRL/GUY NAME
(first initial of first name followed by "izzle", first two or three letters of your last name followed by "dizzle"):
Cizzle Badizzle
(I'm sure Snoop would pronounce it "sizzle").

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME
(favorite color, favorite animal):
Blue Dolphin
Sounds like a bar.

YOUR STAR WARS NAME
(first 3 letters of your name- last 3 letters of mother's maiden name, first 3 letters of your pet's name repeated twice):
Chrger GinGin

YOUR SUPERHERO NAME
("The", your favorite color, the type of car you drive):
The Blue Expedition

Lost In Translation

There really is a TV show that airs from 11:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. called Infarto. It appears to be a Mexican news station. I tuned in and waited for a punch line... no luck. There were a lot of very jubilant people south of the border jumping around for some reason.

The stranger episode occured yesterday when North Korea test fired the Taepodong-2 and the Nodong missiles. I know I'm not the first to note this, but wonder if anyone has tried telling them?

Dear North Korea,

The word "dong" is a nine on the Beevis and Butthead snickers scale. You people need to get out more often or order Berlitz Does English. If you're going to try and get up in our grill on our national holiday, try naming your weapons something a little scarier and less antiphallic. A few suggestions:

RAWR
HASSELHOFF
LOTSADONG

Sincerely,

The Baglady

P.S. Kim Jong, speaking of unmanly things, please work with the hair! Are you trying to give Donald Trump a run for his worst-hairdo-on-a-rich-guy ever or what?!

Best Ending to a Sermon Ever

"And oh Peggy Lee, your lyrics were always so strange". - Father Lyng

Anes: Where Does Ikea Come Up With This Stuff?

I'm starting to wonder if anyone at Ikea's corporate headquarters really speaks English. Two of their new products:

Jerker

Call me fussy, but I don't want to pull on a drawer handle every day that's called the jerker.

Anes

Okay so the Anes bed frame name has a little circley thing over the top of the "A". By my junior high humor standards, it still looks and sounds too close to that planet between Saturn and Neptune.

What I Told My Dad Today...

I sent my dad a card with this quote. It really describes him:

To laugh often and much: To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Happy Father's Day to all the good dads reading!!

Nice Shirt, Ethnic Sir...

There is a plus to having a nine letter name! Strange anagrams of my name:

Nicer Shit
Enrich Its
I Snitcher
Ethnic Sir
Reich Isn't
In Richest
Thrice Sin
Retch I Sin
Tech In Sir
Nice Shirt
Hi Cistern
Rice Thins (Rejected cracker?)
Cries Thin (Don't I wish!)
Irish Cent
Chi Ne Stir (Sort of French for 'Don't Stir My Chi'?)
Chin Tries
Inch Tires
Rich Stein (Only the Good Beer)
Rich Set In (Any time now, go ahead!)
Itch Rinse
Ricin Seth
She Nitric (Super Hero?)
Her Sit Inc
Re Shit Inc (Not making this up!)
Risc Thine
Sic Hinter

92% Self-Esteemed

Maybe it's higher than I thought or this blog shows:

You Have Low Self Esteem 8% of the Time

Which can be translated to mean, you have high self-esteem and a healthy sense of self worth. You believe in yourself, and you know how to be the real you. You love yourself, imperfections and all.

How is Your Self Esteem?

Most Boring Blog... Ever, No, I Mean It

I'm not trying to enter their contest. (But if I win then I of course was). I was shocked to try and parse this phrase: furniture store blog. It's true. Everyone is blogging these days. Via San Diego Blog.

Fear and Loathing in La Jolla

This is for all of my homeboys with plumbing/lack of water ills. KC & D who had upstairs neighbors flood their places. KB who had sewage spill onto his carpet and had to pay $800 for someone to come dry it out (your landlord is evil!). M who's water keeps getting shut off. My own plumbing issues. Don't ever try to convert a cardboard box into a bucket. Mildew is the enemy.

This is for all my pals with love ills. I won't even mention your initials. You know who you are.

And for all people filled with fear and loathing, some Sinatra:

That's life, that's what all the people say.
You're riding high in April,
Shot down in May
But I know I'm gonna change that tune,
When I'm back on top, back on top in June.

Ignore that the song ends this way:

But if there's nothing shakin' come this here july
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die

Making Banana Bread (Tabblo Review)

I'd been looking for an excuse to use Tabblo, a neat new site that lets you storyboard pictures. It is definitely still in beta or maybe just doesn't work great on the Mac. I don't think it works better than a plain blog interspersed with photos (once you add in all the trouble it is to use). It is a fun way to show an online album and I think I'll try a new subject next time. I'd thought it might be a neat instructional tool (new assignment). However, I think it needs to work some kinks out before non-geeks try using it.

Making Banana Bread/Tabblo Take 1.

Liquid Plumber Manicure

Sure it can unclog a sink, but did you know that it gives the most amazing manicure? My kitchen sink is seriously clogged. My guess is that the mini shredded wheats didn't get all the way down the drain this morning :(. They must have spent all day getting super solid in my poor whittle drain. I plunged the drain for a long time, then poured in LP. I plunged so long on the drain that my plunger broke :(. My arms felt like they were burning a little, so I rinsed them with water (in the working sink). The skin around my inner elbow is feeling hot, but my nails are etched like they've been polished and are very white. I also smell very sterile. My hands are soft like they've been exfoliated. Spa treatments that work by eating proteins are probably dangerous. The silver lining is now I can get a fancy plunger guilt free, since mine is broken. I've always wondered just how much better those ribbed black ones work. Stay tuned...



P.S. Why are there so many people who have pictures of plungers?

Sometimes...

at night
it's awful to be alone.

P.S. Bagels Are The Enemy

Another bagel successfully stared down.

While I'm talking about carb options... has anyone else ever noticed that Trader Joe's Yogurt O's don't get soggy in milk? Don't get me wrong. I really like the taste, especially the kind with the dried mango. They are like rocks though - even with some soak time. I think I chipped a tooth eating them.

Really Bad News/Baglady Likes Her Butt?

I never assumed that I was the only person using the handle/name/whatever "baglady". That fact was brought home loud and clear to me today when a friend (let's call her Care Bear) shared some new intell with me. Apparently she'd set her IRC client to notify her everytime baglady signed on to the IRC server she uses. This is how she noticed that there was another baglady signing on, but not to the benignly topiced channel Care bear frequents. No friends, the other baglady frequents the channel called "enema-palace".

That honey of a phrase is going to push some funky traffic to my blog - I know it!

What should my new handle be???

I'm Seduced Already

Check out the EU's new campaign for Europe Day (today):>



That's a campaign that I can get behind!

You Are What You Eat

I've been hooked on Trader Joe's Monteblue & Populet. That's snob for poppycock with blueberries:

Cute But Wrong

This kitty-shaped iPod Nano case is cute, but so wrong at the same time:

No One At the Table

I've never had a good answer for the cliche, "If you could have five people (living or deceased) to dinner, who would they be?"

I would like to ask my grandma what stitch she used for the half complete afghan I want to finish.

I would ask Clara why she married Charlie the second time.

I asked my grandpa the questions I had. The best advice he gave me was that it takes that real strong feeling for someone to keep a marriage going (both of you). You could get by with almost anything if you had that.

I'd ask my other grandpa how he kept his african violets so nice. I have instructions, but I just can't seem to get them as healthy as his were.

Why I Wax

I'm starting to look like I'm undergoing gender reassignment starting with my eyebrows.

Why I Need To Lose Weight

Yesterday I was checking out an outfit and my scant makeup in the mirror. I caught the voice inside me say, "That'll do, pig, that'll do."



Or maybe I should just go for the wife's look. I'm getting closer by the day! Stuff that used to look sexy looks more like a flesh explosion. /self loathing

"Astronomy is Hot!"

Ye of little faith thought that this blog had been abandoned. Nay! With material like this, the blog must go on:

In a follow up to my original kilt post, I want to inform the public that a kilted astronomy club, or rather a regiment within said organization, exists right here in California! Yes, 'tis true.



I can't find an explanation of how they decided to wear utilikilts, which mystifies me. Astronomy is a night activity and while Sacramento gets really hot, it seems like star gazing is more suited to pants. Am I missing something?!

The Empress

Sorry for the scary pic!

Which Tarot Card Are You?

You are the Empress card. The Empress is the archetype of the Mother. She creates and nurtures life. She represents the abundance of Mother Earth. The Empress is capable of using nature in a productive way. She espouses art for art's sake. Her planet is Venus, and she embodies love of beauty and a strong value system. Here is also found initial sensation. This is the first really physical experience of the world that The Fool has entered. The Empress has a rich understanding of the world based on her five senses. In a reading, The Empress represents pregnancy, actual or metaphorical. She indicates an act of creation and a sensual experience of beauty. The Empress is a nurturing force that wishes to see the product of her experiences reach the next stage of development. Image from A Photographic Tarot http://www.bluewitch.com/healingtarot/healtar.htm Deck
Take this quiz!








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Join

| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

Why Logging IM Conversations Is Bad

... could also be called "Why My Friends All Give Me Strange Looks". I actually sent this tonight:

"The moral of the story... you want a bear, soak a tampon in beef fat".

What You Biatches Missed!

Molten Flourless Chocolate Cake and Carmel Gelato, originally uploaded by baglady.

I mean that affectionately of course! Friday included a line up of my favorite places. We started with Cafe Sevilla. The Food TV network was there filming. Mom, Matthew and I split tapas, while KC had a skewer of shrimp. The Dizzy's show was really enjoyable. We followed it up with MORE dessert.

Barry 'N Barbara: A Sign of the Apocalypse

If I was the kind of DB that watched American Idol, I would have noticed something disturbing last night, er... I mean whenever it happens to be on. Barbara Walters (Wawa) and Barry Manilow (Barely Man Enough) look like twins! He seems like a very sweet man and I feel a little bad mentioning this. Judge for yourself:





I can only guess that they have the same plastic surgeon.

This is just a randomly disturbing image of Barry for your amusement. I love that the image has the keyword "Chicagocrotch" (hurl):

Visions of Hummus Utilikilts Danced In Her Head

After late night studying comes late night snacking. Even though I'd baked chocolate chocolate chip muffins earlier, they didn't look appealing. Settled on pita bread and garlic hummus. I know this is going to give me nightmares. Garlic before bed sounds like an intuitively bad move.

If the hummus doesn't get me, the utilikilt site surely will. I've seen a couple guys wearing these around campus. I thought they were in a club, but this makes me unsure. It sounds like a man's lib movement. I don't know why anyone would elect to wear skirts if they didn't have to. Skirts are for big women who can't fit into pants and for skinny women who's thighs don't rub together. The rest of us only wear them to look good. This is probably my favorite pic. What's a bear with *no* pants or skirt gonna say to you?!

Fashion Arrest?

I don't get the big, fancy glasses that have been in this past year. I know they say it was for drugs, but I'm starting the rumor that George Michael was under fashion arrest:

Best Rummy Quotes

While writing a fictional missing chapter to Candide, where Candide meets up with Donald Rumsfeld in Iraq, I came across some great quotes from Rumsfeld. Some are actually insightful, while some are just plain funny (in a sick way :P). From BrainyQuote:

"Death has a tendency to encourage a depressing view of war."

"Control your time. If you're working off your in-box, you're working off the priorities of others. Be sure the staff is working on what you move to them from the President, or the President will be reacting, not leading."

"Don't be a bottleneck. If a matter is not a decision for the President or you, delegate it. Force responsibility down and out. Find problem areas, add structure and delegate. The pressure is to do the reverse. Resist it."

"Don't blame the boss. He has enough problems." (spoken like a true boss :-D)

"Don't necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership."

"Don't say "the White House wants." Buildings can't want."

This one's for Cooper:

"From where you sit, the White House may look as untidy as the inside of a stomach. As is said of the legislative process, sausage-making and policy-making shouldn't be seen close-up. Don't let that panic you. Things may be going better than they look from the inside."

"I don't do quagmires."

"I'm not into this detail stuff. I'm more concepty."

Keep your rules limited to the number of fingers you have:

"If you develop rules, never have more than ten."

"Oh my goodness gracious, what you can buy off the Internet in terms of overhead photography. A trained ape can know an awful lot of what is going on in this world, just by punching on his mouse, for a relatively modest cost. "

"People say, 'Well, where's the smoking gun?' Well, we don't want to see a smoking gun from a weapon of mass destruction. "

Kind of scared to see the Powerpoint that goes with this one (pruning people :O):

"Prune - prune businesses, products, activities, people. Do it annually."

Say this one three times fast:

"There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know. "

Did Rummy work in academia?

"Watch for the "not invented here" syndrome."

Okay, maybe not because they all seem to be vacant this long:

"Watch the growth of middle level management. Don't automatically fill vacant jobs. Leave some positions unfilled for 6-8 months to see what happens. You will find you won't need to fill some of them."

"You will launch many projects, but have time to finish only a few. So think, plan, develop, launch and tap good people to be responsible. Give them authority and hold them accountable. Trying to do too much yourself creates a bottleneck. "

Guns Don't Kill People, Guys in Mittens, Hats & Scarves Do

When you have an hour to kill, check out ThreadBared. My favorite pattern pic has to be this guy holding a rifle in mittens:



I love the added caption on this one:

A Simple Vow

If any man has a reason why I should not eat Trader Joe's "Way More Chocolate Chips" cookies for breakfast, let him speak now or forever hold his peace.

I do.

How I Rate

My life is rated PG-13!



Your life is rated PG-13!

What is your life rated? (MPAA Scale)

Stupid Romantics/Jealous of the Moon

Maybe if I blog about this, I will feel better. Here goes...

My boyfriend and I broke up a couple weeks ago. It was my doing and I don't have a right to be mopey. I'm taking a class and we're reading from the romantic period. I am not in the mood. I just want to stick all the whiney, romantic characters in the eye with something sharp. "Take that fool! Why did you think it would work out?!!"

My new favorite song is "Jealous of the Moon" from Nickel Creek's new album:

Trying on a brand new dress
But you haven't worn the old one yet.
You've come too far, to turn around now.
Giving up a good fight.
You're as strong as anyone.
You're back when you started from,
I see you're back where you started from.

Staring down the stars, jealous of the moon
You wish you could fly.
But you're staying where you are,
there's nothing you can do,
if you're too scared to try.

Drag your pretty head around
Swearing you're gonna drown with a beautiful sigh and a river of lies.

I hate to see a friend of mine,
Laughing out loud when she's crying inside,
but you've got your pride.

*****

I think blogging nullifies the pride claim :P.

A Top 10 Worst List San Diego Did Not Make

We may have our financial woes and corruption scandals, but San Diego is not the most irregular city in the US. From Slashfood:

*****

Dannon's new yogurt, Activa, contains a special bacterial culture known as Bifidus Regularis that helps to regulate the digestive tract. To help promote their new product, and perhaps to locate potential markets for this breakfast-food-come-Milk of Magnesia-competitor, Dannon commissioned a survey to determine the most irregular cities in America. The survey defined irregularity as not going to the bathroom for two or more days and found that the ten most irregular cities are:

1. Orlando, FL
2. Memphis, TN
3. Greenville, NC
4. Tampa, FL
5. Raleigh-Durham, NC
6. San Antonio, TX
7. Oklahoma City, OK
8. Jacksonville, MI
9. Miami/Fort Lauderdale, FL
10. Philadelphia, PA

*****

What I want to know is, how did they determine which cities are most irregular? I can't think of a single source of that information.

New Word: Malversation

I saw a new word used to describe Randy "Duke" Cunningham:

Malversation: corrupt behavior in a position of trust.

Now check out the origin: based on the latin for badly "male" plus behave "versari". It's a fancy way to say "men behaving badly".

First Freedom Fries

Iranians have renamed danishes (pastries) "Roses of the Prophet Muhammed". Clerics can't name food anymore! Roses of the Prophet Muhammed and coffee, just doesn't have a ring to it.

Iranians rename Danish pastries

Bakeries across the capital, Tehran, are covering up signs advertising the pastries and replacing them with ones bearing the dessert's new name.

Don't Go There

Going to break with my usual rule of no friend stories. This exchange was priceless. KC was trying to straighten out the oriental rug runner in my entryway tonight. He put one foot at each end and almost went into the splits.

Damien: Ah, you're trying to do a David Lee Roth.

Me (to KC): I want to see you in those pants!

Damien: Those assless chaps?

BRAIN WAVES CEASED

KC: They're called "bottomless chaps".

KNEES COLLAPSED

Damien: No, assless chaps.

KC: Bottomless chaps.

Me: I meant the parachute pants! (from the Might As Well Jump video)

Most Romantic Valentine's Day Gesture

The Ralph's by my house is the worst place to be anytime near or on Valentine's Day. Yesterday I completed my big shop for the week. I was glad to not have to go back. The store is decorated a la Valentine's Day on steroids... in the sort of way that gets you down. To my horror, I discovered that I was almost out of worsteshire sauce. I ventured over to Ralph's about 8:30 p.m. and found lines 10-20 people long. Just insanely long lines of people buying strawberries, alcohol, balloons, etc. Except for the guy behind me in line. He was standing in a 20 minute line with one box of tampons. That is love! On top of that, he watched my basket while I ran to get the elbow macaroni I'd forgotten on my pass through the store.

No winter..

No winter lasts forever;
no spring skips its turn.
- Hal Borland

The Glu Was Missing

Superglu is one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. It can take multiple feeds, such as blogger and flickr, adding them into one view. Check me out:

Baglady Glus It Together

Blinged Out Water

Okay this is the DUMBEST thing I've seen in a while (via Slashfood):

Bling H2O

You'll just have to see for yourself. Oh, and hear for yourself. Dig the jazzy song you can't turn off.

More Vacation Than I Know What To Do With

Thank goodness for clerical errors! I have an extra 132 hours of vacation. I'm taking tomorrow off for no particularly good reason! Here are the thoughts I've had so far:

* Mail my Christmas newsletter. Hmmm, more like my Valentine's Day newsletter now.
* Sleep.
* Work on my jigsaw puzzle.
* Catch up on Netflix. It seems wrong to spend sunny days indoor watching TV.
* Taunt my friends at work over IM.
* Do homework :P.
* Cook something really good for dinner.
* Recover those three unmatching dining room chairs.

Any suggestions about what I should do tomorrow? How would you spend it?

More Signs of Aging

You know you're aging when you want dessert and the cranberry juice in the fridge looks better than the cookies and streudel.

Goodnight, Grandpa (Munster)

"Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of "The Munsters" whose work as a basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role as Grandpa from the television sitcom died."

Getting Ready for Friday Night

Getting Ready for Friday Night, originally uploaded by baglady.

I went all out for our restaurant week dinner at Trattoria Aqua. The outcome was something between Shirley Temple and Miss Piggy.

In Support of My Favorite Sweater

I may never have written about him, were it not for his fashion gaffe. Nonetheless, I have to give a nod to Bolivia's President Evo Morales and his favorite sweater. The latest Time Magazine has him in four separate pictures wearing the same red, white, blue and grey horizontally striped, alpaca sweater. He met the leaders of China, the UN, Spain and South Africa in it!

I didn't find a good picture of it, but I did learn that Kentucky has a llama and alpaca association. You'll be relieved to know that they have full meeting minutes on their web site.



I spent most of high school in a green, wool Benetton sweater. By my senior year, my friends were begging me to throw it out. It was cozy, kind of like a security blanket. I should make some quilting squares out of it. That would require some skill and effort though. It wasn't like any sweater I could find online. With some digging, I should be able to find myself in a picture wearing it.

Can you believe the head of Benetton has such help-me-find-the-words press photos? Look, he's making the baglady a new green sweater!

Bearded Lady

It's not too late to enjoy Big D's Halloween costumes. It's not over until the fat lady sings:



Something else could be said about bearded circus ladies. I enjoy people who enjoy it when people laugh at them. I think I would be really depressed if I wasn't amused when people think I'm weird :P. Must be a coping mechanism I developed.

SD Bloggers Event: Post Mortem

The San Diego Bloggers event drew a big crowd. A shout out to my dawgz Declan and Gabe and to some new friends PES, Joe & his lovely wife, Leah and Jennifer aka Sushi Slut.

Killing Me Softly

The day I was born, the song at the top of the charts was Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly". I was really worried what it might be, given some of the frightening stuff that came out of the 70's.

Find out yours at:

This Day In Music

Bad News for Slackers

and NEETs:

Why hard work makes people happy

Hard work may be the last thing people want as they return to their jobs after the festive break, but experts say it could be the key to happiness.

"From our research the people who were most active got the most joy. It may sound tempting to relax on a beach, but if you do it for too long it stops being satisfying."